Sunday, August 6, 2017

It's Monday! Good Books Everywhere!

I have a busy week ahead, completing quite a few from the "to do" list because I'm gone next week to visit my brother in Missouri so I can see the eclipse! I'll be reading Evicted by Matthew Desmond and Refugee by Alan Gratz

REMINDER! Thursday is PictureBook10for10 (#PB10for10) where many share ten picture books that are Must Haves! Be sure to link up with Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek. Here's how!

I savored this book for a few weeks, learned about it from Tara Smith, so thanks, Tara. It's for adults and older teens, a series of essays written about Eula Biss's life, her moves, her response to racism and often, how it happened to be that way. She backs her thoughts and experiences with research. I learned a lot of history and new ways to contemplate what I see and read in other areas. The Goodreads review ends with this: Faced with a disturbing past and an unsettling present, Biss still remains hopeful about the possibilities of American diversity, "not the sun-shininess of it, or the quota-making politics of it, but the real complexity of it."

Remember the movie Philadelphia with Tom Hanks? It was so long ago, and broke some barriers then, and we've come a long way so that now that same kind of story can be found in books for kids. I had such a happy feeling coming away from that movie, thinking that it held the kind of family I wish everyone had. And now Richard Peck has also offered that wonderful kind of family, the one that does the right thing in being good people. Archer is eleven; the story is about him from first grade to seventh, and the telling moves back and forth showing the quirky friends he makes, yet somehow he has chosen those who do good, too. The thread that holds the story together from the title is not only a "Best Man" in a wedding, which Archer becomes, but the "best man" that he aspires to be, like his grandpa, his dad, and his Uncle Paul. There is humor and some "hold your breath" moments, but I don't mind telling you that it all comes out in the "best" way, like all of us wish for our families. I loved it very much. (from my #MustReadIn2017 list)

A must-have for the beginning of a school year. A diverse set of six voices in six grades tell us what's going on "The Night Before," "In The Morning," "At School," and "After School". As the stories move from part to part, we learn a bit more about each child and about their teachers. Good things happen like kindness in school mates and teachers, new friends made and parents who understand how to support in good ways. The illustrations are simple, showing just enough of each child and his or her emotions to add to their stories. It's a perfect mentor book for point of view.

If I taught in the early grades, this would be one of the first readalouds I would do. Matthew Cordell's illustrations pack the pages with Little Louie's exasperation, frustration and finally, contentment as Louie navigates the worst cold ever, and all he needs is Bob (read Mom with a stuffed-up nose). It's a story that can happen to many, especially if they own a dog named Bob!

I love books that cover the year in some way, like John Updike's A Child's Calendar, and this is another, but this time Michael J. Rosen focuses his haiku on birds, beginning with spring. The first seasons show seven birds and the final two show five.

Here the title poem:

the cuckoo's haiku

hidden like the chance of rain

its name, repeating

The thoughtful haiku are further illustrated in fabulous watercolors by Stan Fellows, and on each page, handwritten notes offer a few basic bits of information. Added info about each bird can be found at the back. Such a lovely book will inspire more poetry.

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“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” ― Anna Quindlen, How Reading Changed My Life

The Best Man is fairly upbeat, and it's been popular with my students, who don't really even blink at the uncle's situation. How things have changed in the last 40 years, even though there is still room for improvement!

I'm so glad you liked the Eula Biss essay collection, Linda. I learned about it through Ruth Ayers, and now all my kids are reading this book and we are having such meaningful conversations about all manner of important things.